Arizona Chickens

[MaddBaggins]

never ;-) the older they are the slower you cook them. If they are a year or more then make soup, otherwise they will be too tough to eat.

Really? I didn't know that. I was planning on bbq ours when they slowed down the laying in a few years. I didn't know they get tough after a year or so. Food for thought

 

[MaddBaggins]

No, you don't have to leave feed in there, but it's easiest to just top off the bucket and give it a good stir every day. Most people seriously overthink the entire thing.

Bragg's will speed it slightly but it isn't very critical. I don't remember if it was Nzwered Bought feeding methods, but it is not free feeding. Give them enough to finish in ten or fifteen minutes. If you free range, only feed them in the evening. Otherwise, give them a serving morning and evening.

You've gotta record that hand feeding routine for us, 'cause it'll be hysterical. Nobody, I repeat NOBODY I have heard about has CALM chickens when it comes to the fermented feed, and they will always act hungry.

Any more questions I missed? It really is as simple as it sounds.

I take out a dish of yogurt, shredded carrot, minced cauliflower and kale and a dash of oats almost every morning. There is nothing calm about it when they see that dish. Yogurt flies!

 

[Twinklin]

I'm assuming fermenting pellet feed turns it into mush. I was curious if people give the fermented feed as the primary/only feed source or only give a small amount each day and then allow the solid pellets the rest of the day.

 

[maryhysong]

I'm assuming fermenting pellet feed turns it into mush. I was curious if people give the fermented feed as the primary/only feed source or only give a small amount each day and then allow the solid pellets the rest of the day.

other than bugs and greens mine get only fermented feed, no dry feed at all. Having a feeder full of dry feed hanging around became a buffet for sparrows, pigeons and doves; they were eating more than my chickens were. Now they are rarely hanging around at all.

 

[maryhysong]

Really? I didn't know that. I was planning on bbq ours when they slowed down the laying in a few years. I didn't know they get tough after a year or so. Food for thought

The same is true of any animal, the older they are the tougher they are, because they have exercised their muscles, making them denser and more fibrous, leading to toughness. This is also true of different cuts of meat on large animals like beef. The tongue and neck are very tough because they are exercised daily. The flank and shoulder are a little more tender and of course the most tender is the 'tenderloin' that muscle that runs along the spine, because it gets less exercise.

 

[Twinklin]

other than bugs and greens mine get only fermented feed, no dry feed at all. Having a feeder full of dry feed hanging around became a buffet for sparrows, pigeons and doves; they were eating more than my chickens were. Now they are rarely hanging around at all.

hmmmm... I think I'll start up a small batch today. I'll give it to the girls later this week and see how much of it they eat. They have a constant supply of dry pellets right now but don't eat much of it because they free range. I think I may go through feed faster with mash because they may choose it over grass, they seem to like food when it gets wet. Do you measure out or give it free feed?

 

[pipemum]

I only have 6 chickens to feed, so I ferment their feed in a smaller container. I probably should move up to at least a 2-gallon bucket. Each day I go through about a 1/3 of the container. I feed them fermented once a day, and they have access to a hanging feeder with regular food. My coop and run are fully enclosed with hardware cloth, so I don't have a pest problem with access to the hanging feeder--one of the only benefits to having such a small flock!

My meat chickens, just over a week old, have had fermented feed from the beginning. I figured they'd be eating a lot of feed, so I started theirs in a 5-gallon bucket. Chick crumbles turn into cream of wheat type texture. I don't like the smell of the layer feed fermented, but love the smell of the fermented chick crumbles.

I finished the meat chicks pen yesterday. Didn't quite make my goal of making it attractive! I think I'll have my daughter paint on the white plastic board and liven it up a bit.

Here are the meaties enjoying a garden bed ready to be turned over for fall veggies. They spent all day in the box and they seemed to love it.


Here's the finished pen. Not my best work, but it'll do. I made it to be easy to disassemble/reassemble as needed. It's built on a slope, though the structure is level. The front is a mess, I have this pit that my husband dug out for drainage that is really unnecessary (this is why I try to do all the yard and handiman work). Anyway, till I fix it, I'm clambering around on pallets as a bridge. The chicks will spend the days in the pen (in there right now!) and will be in the garage at nights for at least the next week. Hopefully they are ready to stay 100% outside soon, as the garage is my husband's only domain and he hates chickens. They absolutely can not go back into the house because they are too smelly.

 

[pipemum]

And here is my daughter, NOT getting attached to the chicks. Just ignore the stuff on her face, it's a 2-day old face painting....

 

[Twinklin]

And here is my daughter, NOT getting attached to the chicks. Just ignore the stuff on her face, it's a 2-day old face painting....

So cute. I can see she isn't attached at all LOL.

 

[Twinklin]

I just started my fermented pellets. I had set out water last week to dechlorinate it so I was ready to get a batch started. My main concern is wasting food. If I give them a couple scoops and they don't eat it all can the left overs be put back in the fermenting bucket that night? We have roof rats like crazy in this neighborhood and they just stopped coming into the run because I now lock the feed away at night. Dry pellets can be used the next day but can the wet stuff? If not I'll have to only give them as much fermented feed as they can eat at once and then use dry pellets free feed the rest of the day as they are now.